


around and around again

by petcheetah



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Nonbinary Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-04
Updated: 2019-03-04
Packaged: 2019-11-09 06:02:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17996285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/petcheetah/pseuds/petcheetah
Summary: luther called you crazy. quietly, to allison, when he thought you were no longer there. she had agreed just as quietly.





	around and around again

you have a lot of time to think when you’re living in a post apocalypse world by yourself. you do not believe you went crazy in all that time, the long stretch of 45 years passing with no other company but yourself and a mostly destroyed mannequin, but you know that people would say otherwise. but in your time alone, you never had to think on that much, as you knew there was no longer any humans alive.

when you made it make to your original time, or close thereabouts, you knew more about yourself than any of your 30 year old siblings. you may have looked much younger, but you could easily tell someone that instead of their brother, you would prefer they call you ‘they’ and  their ‘sibling’.

most of them had paid it no mind, easily adopting the pronoun after not seeing you for at least 17 years, but there were a few not quite as accepting. it was strange to you, considering even the time travelling assassins you had met in the past 45 years had been kind enough to listen when you told them you were not a male.

luther called you crazy. quietly, to allison, when he thought you were no longer there. she had agreed just as quietly. 

you had teleported away before you could see the way klaus snapped to attention and snapped right at One and Three despite his high state. diego had glared on his way out, tugging klaus alone with him. and yet, you saw none of this. not even the way vanya clearly, and strongly, stood up against her siblings just for you, for the first time in her life.

“five is five. if they say they’re a they, that’s what they are. they might have been alone for 45 years, but if this is your reaction to your sibling giving you that kind of information, i think  _ you’re  _ the crazy ones.”

you heard none of it. you believed that they all believed the same as luther and allison. you told yourself as you pushed through space to get some coffee that you didn’t care, but you knew you did.

at least you had other, more important things to focus on. like stopping the apocalypse for instance. until that happened, you would pretend it didn’t bother you that your siblings had called you crazy for something you had gotten used to in your past 40 plus years of life.

it wasn’t until you stopped the apocalypse. until you  _ all  _ stopped the apocalypse, that you learnt that not all your siblings believed the same thing.

you had pulled them all back in time. back until you were all 13 and young and ben was not yet dead and you had not yet left.

you all landed smack bang in the middle of dinner. your father was quietly eating as all your siblings began loudly speaking over one another in shock. you were the only one used to time travel enough to not react, but you watched it all go down with wide eyes. this would change events, no matter what you did.

“quiet down this instant!” reginald exclaimed, tapping a fork against the table loud enough to be heard by all your siblings.

they all shut up on instinct. and reginald turned to you.

“i have no idea what has come onto you all, but i would prefer if you were all as quiet as five is. do you see  _ him  _ making a fuss? no. now settle down—”

klaus spoke up, over your father, and your head instantly snapped to him in shock.

“five isn’t a he.” klaus said matter of factly. while he was in his 13 year old body and over unaccustomed to that fact, he didn’t hesitate in speaking up over his own shock and surprise. you felt your jaw drop.

“yeah, dad. five’s a they. don’t be so rude.” ben – and wasn’t that a shock,  _ ben  _ – quipped. he was as sarcastic as he had always been, when he had been alive.

“well, i’ll be.” reginald said aghast, looking at klaus and ben and finally at you. “have you all lost your minds?”

it was to the surprise of everyone at the table that luther spoke up. he had been as quiet as you this whole time, but he looked just as determined. you watched in awe as he spoke back to his father for what you knew was the first time in his life— both lives.

“we’re all as crazy as we have always been, dad. you don’t grow up in this house and turn out  _ normal _ .”

reginald blinked. he looked at luther with so much shock it had you quietly snickering.

“your rooms. all of you. now. we will speak about this in the morning. for now, you will all think about what you’re doing, in your rooms.” your dad demanded.

you and your siblings all stood as one.

“yes, sir.” you all echoed.

and it was as if a herd of elephants were in the house as you all took off up the stairs. you were still unable to stop the snickering, and the tears growing in your eyes at the complete and utter absurdity of what was happening right now.

the world was already changing,

and it started with you.


End file.
